Pink Tie. It is unquestionably Susan G. Komen North Jersey’s definitive signature event. It has been imitated, emulated and celebrated by Susan G. Komen Affiliates across the nation from Pennsylvania to Hawaii, from Michigan to Louisiana. Since its inception 20 years ago, it’s been graced by an A-list of celebrity entertainers including Smokey Robinson, Lionel Richie, Gloria Gaynor, The Pointer Sisters and Little Anthony and the Imperials. It has been attended by as many as 1,400 guests at a variety of spectacular venues including the United Airlines hangar at Newark Airport, the cavernous Morristown Armory, the beautiful New Jersey Performing Arts Center, and the entire Neiman Marcus Short Hills store.

But this year’s Pink Tie Party, on April 7, 2017 at the Westmount Country Club in Woodland Park, is perhaps destined to be the most momentous. It will mark the 20th anniversary of a promise made by the Affiliate’s co-founders to do everything they could to fight breast cancer and save lives right here in Northern New Jersey. The event will honor these three courageous women, Deborah Q. Belfatto (Summit), Lisa Herschli (Denver) and Kathy Hubert-McKenna (Berkeley Heights), and recognize RWJBarnabas Health (Medical Honoree) and Wakefern Food Corp./ShopRite (Corporate Honoree) for their exceptional support and unwavering commitment to the Komen North Jersey mission. The venue also was selected as a tribute; the Westmount Country Club has a singular history with the Affiliate—for many years, it was the site of Komen North Jersey’s renowned “Celebration of Life,” a huge event held annually just for breast cancer survivors. Jerry Rose of Maplewood, known as “The Design Maverick™,” returns to transform the ballroom (and the evening) into an exciting, original experience. One of America’s premier event designers, Jerry has been creating the signature visual ambiance of Pink Tie since the very first event.

“It is truly inspiring to reflect on the vision our founders had, and the promise made to do whatever they could to help end this terrible disease,” says Kelly Nagle Witkowski, Executive Director of Komen North Jersey. “Thanks to the passion and perseverance of Deb, Lisa and Kathy, we have seen tremendous accomplishments over the last twenty years. We have invested more than $23 million to fund groundbreaking research and support local community grants to organizations right here in New Jersey. We have educated thousands of women and men about breast health and breast cancer. We have saved lives. And we will keep on working until we fulfill our promise. As we honor our founders, RWJBarnabas Health and Wakefern Food Corp./ShopRite for their enormous impact on the success of our past, we look forward to the future and to celebrating, with them, a world without breast cancer.”

Diagnosed with breast cancer 30 years ago at the age of 33, Deb Belfatto quickly came to understand—as she moved through the long road of diagnosis, treatment, recovery and survival—that she had survived because she had access to the right resources, connections, and relationships. She was able to obtain the best care possible. But what, she wondered, became of all those women didn’t have the network, the family, the friends—the support she had? She knew that she had to do something to make a difference to all the women in New Jersey for whom life-saving breast health care, screening and treatment support services were out of reach geographically, financially, mentally or emotionally. But what?

Then in 1995, Deb lost a close friend to breast cancer. She promised her friend’s 10-year old daughter Jackie that she would do everything she could so that “no little girl would ever have to face those fears, or lose her mommy again.” That promise of 1995 was to become a life-long crusade for Deb. Breast cancer, already a presence in her life, now became her driving force. A year later, after seeing the Komen name, Deb began to work towards the goal of bringing a Komen Affiliate “home.” After long hours of research, Deb, Lisa Herschli and Kathy Hubert-McKenna (who would become her co-founders), traveled to Dallas and petitioned the organization’s National office to bring Susan G. Komen® to Northern New Jersey.

On June 17, 1997, after a year of arduous work with their organizing committee, the Susan G. Komen North Jersey Affiliate was born, settling into a tiny space in Deb’s basement to begin its life-saving work. Just three months later, the Affiliate launched its first major fundraiser, Jackie’s Pink Tie Ball, which was destined to become its signature event, the Pink Tie Ball®. The Affiliate grew quickly and moved into a small office space, and then into the famous pink-shuttered Komen House in Summit (which became known as a “safe haven” for women facing breast cancer), and then into its current headquarters on Middle Avenue in Summit. In May of 2008, the Affiliate proudly held its first Susan G. Komen North Jersey Race for the Cure at Branch Brook Park in Newark, NJ, attended by more than 7,500 people. (The Affiliate is also celebrating its 10th Race for the Cure in 2017).

“The Pink Tie Ball® grew faster than we ever imagined in our wildest dreams,” says Belfatto. “Our first, Jackie’s Pink Tie Ball, was attended by 504 people and raised $350,000. Six years later, our Pink Tie Ball® at Neiman Marcus Short Hills drew more than 1,300 guests and raised $1.6 million dollars. So far, our Pink Tie events have raised $11.6 million, and have played a vital role in funding our mission. But we couldn’t have done it alone.

We are deeply grateful for the wonderful support that we’ve received over the years from medical centers, corporations, individuals, and our dedicated volunteers, and the beautiful, warm relationships that have developed. It’s all about the relationships—we depend on these relationships to do the work that we do, to provide breast health care and access to the many women and men in New Jersey who without our help might never receive it.”

Since its founding, the Affiliate has awarded over $16 million in local community grants to non-profit organizations that provide screening/diagnostic services, breast health/breast cancer education, treatment support, and survivorship programs for underserved women and men in nine Northern New Jersey counties. In addition, over $7 million has been directed to national research programs in pursuit of new breast cancer screening techniques, better and more effective treatment options, and ultimately, the causes and cures to eradicate breast cancer forever. Last fall, Susan G. Komen launched its More Than PINK campaign, which celebrates the heroes who have made a significant impact in the fight to end breast cancer, and encourages everyone to act, donate and get involved.

LIVINGSTON, NJ — Thirteen-year-old Origin Health & Fitness student athlete and fencer Chase Emmer took to the fencing strip to finish sixth out of 266 fencers from 42 countries in the U14 Men’s Foil event at the Marathon Fleuret in Paris this February.

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Wending their way up Main Street were more than 25 bands, including marching bands from northern New Jersey high ...

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The event, which will be held Friday, March 16 at The Grove in Cedar Grove, is focused on raising funds to support Komen’s BOLD GOAL: to reduce the number of breast cancer deaths in the U.S. by 50% by the year 2026, by improving access to quality and ...